[claytonjy]

I disagree; hourly rates are an invitation to get bullied by the customer. I much prefer setting a project cost, and informing client we can negotiate _scope_ but not _cost_. (roughly parroting patio11 here).

This is in many ways _harder_, though. Hard to estimate time required (supply-side), hard to estimate value to customer (demand-side).

As a service provider, "overcharging the customer for hours of work that may not occur" is effectively sidestepped by project-based billing. You're providing a product of value to them, not a number of hours of labor. Hourly rates are best left as an internal estimator of cost-to-supply-the-thing, and nothing else.